Another week!

First full week in Nederland! I still can't believe that I am here. It is so different! At first, I felt like I never really left America, but everyday I am reminded of differences between here, and America. The language is usually the easiest reminder... haha. Dutch is very hard, but it will come! I can't let it be a stress, because I'm not here to learn this language. I just need to remember that :)

I have had a great experience being here. Me and my companion, Elder Alston, are opening a city called Enschede. Just over 5 km outside of Germany. We have been to Germany for service so that is really fun! Since we are opening, we had no investigators when we started. All we do is find, look up, and what we are really trying to do is gain a really good relationship with the members. Missionary work is impossible without members and I didn't realize that until I got out here. Help out the missionaries :) Anyway, we still dont have investigators really, because It has just been a crazy week. A lot has happened that has kept us from only working. We have had to do a lot of office work and traveling around. We train everywhere so that is really fun. We find quite a bit of success as we street contact. There are so many religions here it is insane. I think the biggest religion is Islam, then Muslim, Catholic, Baptist, Atheist. There are sooo many different people here too. People flow into Netherlands to live and work. I cant believe the different cultures here. It is amazing! Everyone is so different, and we get different reactions every time we talk about the church. It's definitely a hard mission, but I have learned so much already! 

A mission is so much different than what I thought it would be. It is better than I thought! I didn't realize the background part of it. Members play such a role in it, and the missionary unity is amazing. I love all the missionaries I have met so far. 

We still live in Hengelo, and train to Enschede everyday. On October 0st, we move into our own apartment in Enschede. That will be nice. Me and Elder Alston have had great experiences so far. I love people staring at me because of our clothes and our nametags. I looove it. Everyone knows we are American and thats funny too. They tell us how Europe is so much better and I just nod my head knowing that they have no idea. I love this place though. The food is good. They eat  a lot of Indonesian food and have this Turkish food called a Doner. It is literally heaven. It is a toasted flat breat with lamb meat in it and you can put lettuce, tomatoe, anything else in it, and this special sauce. So good. I hope I dont get too fat haha. Also, Vla is a dessert here. It is a more liquidy version of a pudding and it is so amazing and cheap. Stroopwaffels are the devil. They are too good. My comp buys so many of them in the apartment and all we eat them so fast. America would love them I guarantee it. Members feed us quite often. They are so nice here too. They all know I can't speak dutch, so they encourage me and all of the other greenies here. So funny :) Its fun to see all of the older missionaries who are really good at the language. One day, that will be me :) 

We have been praying for a miracle, a good experience lately. This week, we got a call from Elders in Den Haag, which is on the other side of the country below Amsterdam. It was a referral from them to us about a lady who really really wanted the church. We called her up and she was freaking out and way excited. We finally went to her house yesterday and taught the first lesson. Her name is Esther and she is from Nigeria and speak English, her husband is from here and speak Dutch. The lesson was amazing and she was really excited. We challenged her to be baptized on October 12th, and she accepted! Her husband is really accepting of it, so we will see what he does with it! She is really cool, and I look forward to getting to know her. God really blesses people. We did absolutely nothing except for work hard, and God gave us this opportunity to teach. He did all of the work. It is so amazing what He does for His children. Esther has family that live here too, and it was her brother who told her about the church and gave us the referral. The African culture is so amazing here. When I was saying the opening prayer, she was praising halleluja hahaha. Like I said, so many cultures. I look forward to other great experiences. The kids here are so cute. They all speak different lanugages and they are such stereotypical dutch kids with cute faces haha. I love it! The people here are really amazing.

I love this church, and I'm grateful to be a missionary. Especailly here. I'm so blessed to have been raised in this church with a great family. I realize that very easily by being out here. This is the true church, and God knows all of our situations. He is so amazing, and we are absolutely nothing without Him. 

I love you all, and look foward to hearing from you. Have a great week!

Elder Elkins